California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) proposes to continue its Minority Biomedical Research Support program. Our objective is to provide opportunities and incentives for ethnic minority students to enter biomedical research careers. The approach is to provide the students with employment as researchers, addressing real research problems under the guidance of experienced faculty researchers. The proposal is for a four year program encompassing 10 separate research projects that would employ 20 minority students, both graduate and undergraduate, each year. The program director and the advisory committee coordinate and guide the research projects, recruit and select ethnic minority students, and oversee related activities. The projected direct cost of the program is $306,050 in the first year and $1,250,541 for all four years. The Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Dean of Natural Science and Mathematics have both committed funds to support the MBRS program. In its first two years twelve students participated in the program. In addition to their research experiences, students attended many MBRS seminars on campus, formed an MBRS club, attended the national MBRS Symposium, and participated in five poster sessions. The proposed projects have been chosen to maximize the breadth and quality of opportunities for minority students. The faculty members are interested and experienced in working well with students as researchers; most of the proposed faculty have been funded by MBRS in the past or associated with the MBRS program in other ways. They have supervised student research projects, served in faculty mentor programs for minorities, published with student co-authors, and administered research programs. The excellent scientific quality and biomedical importance of the projects ensures that students will be trained to professional standards. Approximately 37% of CSUF students are from ethnic minority groups, which is expected to increase substantially in the future. Ethnic minorities are increasing as a proportion of the college-age population in the university's service area; they are already over 40% of the k-l2 students. CSUF has many active programs designed to attract, assist, retain, and graduate minority students. The proposal includes continuation of steps for integrating the MBRS program with those other activities.
